Leeds United 2-1 Crystal Palace
Football League Championship
4.12.10
Admission: Adults: £19-£35 Children: £11-£16
Programme: £3
Attendance: 25,476
Capacity: 39,460
Seated: 39,460
Covered: 39,460
Town: Leeds
Club Shop: Yes
Floodlights: Yes
Step: 2
Leeds United's glory days have certainly been and gone. The side saw a drop from the Premier League to League One in a matter of seasons.
With all non league games called off I was grateful that we had planned to go and see Palace away. It had been nearly 4 years since my last visit to Elland Road when Leeds beat Palace 2-1 in the Football League Championship. Leeds is the biggest city in West Yorkshire with a rich sporting history. It is of course home to United, Yorkshire CCC, Leeds Rhinos and Leeds Carnegie along with many amateur sides. The City is the second biggest district in England after Birmingham. In the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds was big in wool industry. In 1880 Louis le Prince recorded the first moving images with a Leeds back garden as his subject.
Leeds has existed since the 5th century when it was several settlements in the kingdom of
Elmet. Charles Dickens described the town as 'the beastliest place, one of the noisiest I know.'
Leeds United were founded in 1919. Their predecessors were Leeds City. The club has won 18 titles in its history including 3 First Division titles, 1 FA Cup and 2 UEFA Cups. Between 1920 and 1960 the clunb rose through the Football League. 1961-1975 were referred to as the glory years for the club. In 1964 the club were promoted to the First Division. They won two League Championships, the FA Cup, the League Cup and two Inter City Fairs Cups. In 1974 Brian Clough was made manager and 44 days later he was sacked and replaced by Jimmy Armfield.
In 2001 Leeds made it to the UEFA Champions League Semi final where they were knocked out by Valencia. In 2006 Leeds were in the Championship. They reached the Play offs final where they lost 3-0 to Watford. In 2007 the club were relegated to League One for the first time in their history. However in 2010 the club were promoted back to the Football League Championship. The club are now pushing for promotion back to the Premier League.
Elland Road is a 39,460 capacity ground. It is all two tiered especially in the Main Stand which partly overhangs the lower tier. The North Stand holds 7,000 seats. The East stand has 17,000. The South Stand has 5,000 while the West Stand has 10,000. The away supporters are located in the Southeast corner with 1,710 seats. The away seats are yellow, while the rest are blue. There are spacious concourses beneath the stands. We arrived late as usual and had to run to the North Stand to buy our tickets, then back to the Souith Stand where the turnstiles are automatic. We ran through the concourse and up a flight of steps. It was then that we noticed we were the only ones in the stand. We looked up to see the rest of the Palace fans in the upper tier. We had seven stewards watching 5 people overall. However this meant we had a bit more space.
Neil Danns gave Palace the lead just before half time. With 9 minutes to go Becchio equalised and scored a winner just 2 minutes later.
Leeds is certainly one of the charesmatic grounds in the Football League but only if you can afford it.
8/10
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
21. Bramall Lane-Sheffield United
Sheffield United 3-2 Crystal Palace
Football League Championship
20.11.10
Admission: Adults: £10-£34 Children: £5-£12
Programme: £3 (68 pp)
Attendance: 20,240
Capacity: 32,702
Seated: 32,702
Covered: 32,702
Town: Heeley, Sheffield
Club Shop: Yes
Floodlights: Yes
Step: 2
Heeley is a suburb of the city Sheffield. It has existed since 1343 at the earliest. Sheffield itself holds the main attractions in the city, particularly the Millenium Galleries. The Tropical Butterfly house, The Peace Gardens, Kelham Island Museum and City Museum are all recommended by Trip Advisor. Sheffield's industry is, of course, in Steel. However the 21st century has seen the city change and most factories are now nothing but tourist attractions. The city currently has a population of 534,500.
Sheffield is home to several football clubs. They include Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and Hallam. It is also home to several ECB Yorkshire Premier sides, Sheffield Eagles RLFC, Sheffield RUFC and Sheffield Tigers RUFC.
Sheffield United were founded in 1889 as a Football/Bandy club. Unioted were champions of England in 1898. They have one 4 FA Cup titles, however the last one was in 1925. However in 1976, during one of the clubs worst ever spells, they were relegated to the Second Division. Three years later they were relegated again to the Third Division. Then 2 years later they were relegated to the Fourth Division. However three years later they were back in the Second Division. In 1988 they were back in ther Third Division, but manager David Bassett masterminded a plan that saw them return to the First Division in 1990. In 1994 they were relegated from the new FA Premier League. In 1999 Neil Warnock was appointed manager and in 2006 Sheffield United were back in the Premier League. They were relegated after one season. United have had a poor season in 2010-11 with relegation looking more likely than promotion.
Bramall Lane is 156 years old, being built in 1855. It is the oldest major stadium in the world still to be holding professional football. The ground has held an Ashes Test, England internationals and a FA Cup final replay. The record attendance is 68, 287. This was a FA Cup tie between United and Leeds United in 1936. The first floodlit game was played in 1878 between a 'blue' team and a 'red' team. The first stand was built in 1896. It held 6,000.
Today's match was a 17:20 kick off due to its coverage from Sky. After doing some Christmas shopping in Sheffield city centre, we headed down to Bramall Lane. You have to buy tickets before the game from the ticket office behind the South Stand. This was fairly quick and we walked back round to the West stand turnstiles. Once inside you are in a cramped concourse with a couple of food stalls and toilets. There are a few entrances to the stand however some had police tape over them. We went in and took some seats nearby. I instantly began to take photos, but was stopped by a steward who claimed that the flash 'can damage the electrical equipment around the ground. For God's sake. Why can't clubs just come out and admit they don't want people to use pictures for commercial use. Frustrated that I couldn't take photos, I began to watch the game. Palace scored a penalty not long into the second half, but this was cancelled out by a Cresswell goal. The sides went off at half time with the scores level. Palace then took the lead again through a Vaughan goal. However with 5 minutes to go Evans scored for United, and two minutes later Bogdanovic scored a penalty to seal the points for United. Overall both sides were pretty awful and a goalless draw might have reflected the football on show better. The stand I was in was two tiered with away fans in the lower.
The Bramall Lane stand holds 5,680 seats with BLADES picked out in the top tier. The South Stand holds 7,500 stands. The opposite end is the Kop. It holds over 10,000 with SUFC picked out. The North Stand holds 7,000. The ground is very well kept and certainly doesn't look its age. Unlike some grounds its attendances fit its cazpacity, so that not everyone is cramped together, but the majority of seats are filled.
The programme, titled 'The Blade', is 68 pages long. It has 16 pages of ads which is pretty good compared to some programmes. There are player interviews, opposition low down, match reports, stats, a league table and line ups. One thing I particularly liked was the then and now section for the visitors which compared their ground in the past and now. It includes some good pictures. Everything you could need in a programme really. 9/10
Bramall Lane is a must visit for all Football League hoppers. However I recommend getting a visitors pass that allows you to take pictures. 9/10
Football League Championship
20.11.10
Admission: Adults: £10-£34 Children: £5-£12
Programme: £3 (68 pp)
Attendance: 20,240
Capacity: 32,702
Seated: 32,702
Covered: 32,702
Town: Heeley, Sheffield
Club Shop: Yes
Floodlights: Yes
Step: 2
Heeley is a suburb of the city Sheffield. It has existed since 1343 at the earliest. Sheffield itself holds the main attractions in the city, particularly the Millenium Galleries. The Tropical Butterfly house, The Peace Gardens, Kelham Island Museum and City Museum are all recommended by Trip Advisor. Sheffield's industry is, of course, in Steel. However the 21st century has seen the city change and most factories are now nothing but tourist attractions. The city currently has a population of 534,500.
Sheffield is home to several football clubs. They include Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham United and Hallam. It is also home to several ECB Yorkshire Premier sides, Sheffield Eagles RLFC, Sheffield RUFC and Sheffield Tigers RUFC.
Sheffield United were founded in 1889 as a Football/Bandy club. Unioted were champions of England in 1898. They have one 4 FA Cup titles, however the last one was in 1925. However in 1976, during one of the clubs worst ever spells, they were relegated to the Second Division. Three years later they were relegated again to the Third Division. Then 2 years later they were relegated to the Fourth Division. However three years later they were back in the Second Division. In 1988 they were back in ther Third Division, but manager David Bassett masterminded a plan that saw them return to the First Division in 1990. In 1994 they were relegated from the new FA Premier League. In 1999 Neil Warnock was appointed manager and in 2006 Sheffield United were back in the Premier League. They were relegated after one season. United have had a poor season in 2010-11 with relegation looking more likely than promotion.
Bramall Lane is 156 years old, being built in 1855. It is the oldest major stadium in the world still to be holding professional football. The ground has held an Ashes Test, England internationals and a FA Cup final replay. The record attendance is 68, 287. This was a FA Cup tie between United and Leeds United in 1936. The first floodlit game was played in 1878 between a 'blue' team and a 'red' team. The first stand was built in 1896. It held 6,000.
Today's match was a 17:20 kick off due to its coverage from Sky. After doing some Christmas shopping in Sheffield city centre, we headed down to Bramall Lane. You have to buy tickets before the game from the ticket office behind the South Stand. This was fairly quick and we walked back round to the West stand turnstiles. Once inside you are in a cramped concourse with a couple of food stalls and toilets. There are a few entrances to the stand however some had police tape over them. We went in and took some seats nearby. I instantly began to take photos, but was stopped by a steward who claimed that the flash 'can damage the electrical equipment around the ground. For God's sake. Why can't clubs just come out and admit they don't want people to use pictures for commercial use. Frustrated that I couldn't take photos, I began to watch the game. Palace scored a penalty not long into the second half, but this was cancelled out by a Cresswell goal. The sides went off at half time with the scores level. Palace then took the lead again through a Vaughan goal. However with 5 minutes to go Evans scored for United, and two minutes later Bogdanovic scored a penalty to seal the points for United. Overall both sides were pretty awful and a goalless draw might have reflected the football on show better. The stand I was in was two tiered with away fans in the lower.
The Bramall Lane stand holds 5,680 seats with BLADES picked out in the top tier. The South Stand holds 7,500 stands. The opposite end is the Kop. It holds over 10,000 with SUFC picked out. The North Stand holds 7,000. The ground is very well kept and certainly doesn't look its age. Unlike some grounds its attendances fit its cazpacity, so that not everyone is cramped together, but the majority of seats are filled.
The programme, titled 'The Blade', is 68 pages long. It has 16 pages of ads which is pretty good compared to some programmes. There are player interviews, opposition low down, match reports, stats, a league table and line ups. One thing I particularly liked was the then and now section for the visitors which compared their ground in the past and now. It includes some good pictures. Everything you could need in a programme really. 9/10
Bramall Lane is a must visit for all Football League hoppers. However I recommend getting a visitors pass that allows you to take pictures. 9/10
Friday, 4 February 2011
20. St George's Lane, Evesham United (Worcester City)
Evesham United 0-1 Swindon Supermarine
Southern League Premier Division
13.11.10
Ground: St. George's Lane (Worcester City FC)
Admission: Adult: £11 Children: £3 (£1 stand transfer at Worcester home games)
Programme: £1.50 (includes team sheet)
Attendance: 94
Capacity: 4,000
Seated: Approx.: 1,000
Covered: 1,300
Town: Worcester, Worcestershire
Club shop: yes (Worcester have their own while Evesham set their own up in the clubhouse)
Floodlights: yes
Step: 7
Worcester is a city in Worcestershire. It is 30 miles south west of Birmingham and 29 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn runs through the city and is overlooked by the 12th century Worcester cathedral. This site held the last battle of the Civil war. Worcester is the home of composer Sir Edward Elgar and Worcestershire sauce. The cathedral is 927 years old with its crypts thought to be even older. The Chapter house is the only circular one in the country. The cathedral is the burial place of King John.
Worcester is a town with a big sporting community. The town is home to Worcester City FC, Worcester Warriors RFC and Worcestershire CCC. Worcester can be accessed from: Hereford, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Oxford and Bristol directly.
Evesham United were founded in 1945. They started in the Worcester League before switching to the Worcestershire Combination in 1951. They won the competition twice before moving into the Birmingham & District League. In the 1960-61 season they were coached by former Coventry City captain Charlie Timmins. Not long afterwards the club were back in the Worcestershire Combination. Which then became the current Midland Combination. The club won three titles in the division before snatching promotion to the Southern League. Coached by former Coventry City player David Busst in 2004-05, they won promotion to the Southern League Premier, but were relegated after one season. In 2008 the club made it to the FA Cup 1st round where they lost 2-0 at Torquay, but not before they knocked Rushden & Diamonds out 2-0. The 2008-09 season was the club's best finish when they ended the season in 9th place. They have made it to the FA Trophy 4th round and the FA Vase Quater finals.
St George's Lane is regarded by some hoppers as one of the best in the country with its wooden main stand running along one side and the old terrace opposite. The record attendance is 17,042 which was for an FA Cup game against Sheffield United. The club are soon to leave St. George's Lane and build a new 6,000 capacity ground in Nunnery Way.
I had had a busy day visiting 8 grounds already with the Southern League game between Evesham and Supermarine. You enter the ground in the South West corner where you pay £11 (or in my case £3). Once inside you are met by two friendly people selling programmes and raffle tickets. I bought a programme which included a team sheet. If you look immediately to your right, there is City's club shop, toilets and the entrance to the clubhouse. This runs right underneath the main stand, with 3 TV's showing the scores. There is a bar selling drinks and a few tables set out to form a club shop. Back outside the dressing rooms are right in front of you with the ground entrance to your right. Behind the goal straight ahead of you is the west goal with 4 steps of terracing and long crush barriers running along. Going round the corner there is 8 steps of terracing and a TV gantry in the centre, this is presumably for WCTV or FA Cup games. There is then the large covered terrace taking up the other half of the side. This contains a dozen steps of terracing with some friendly (really!) graffiti on the back wall. Behind the next goal is raised flat standing with the canal behind. This proved to be a bit of a problem with high shots. The other side ios taken up completely by the main stand. This is a mixture of wooden, plastic and bench seats in 4 blocks. The roof is quite low so the stand is quite poorly lit in November. At the back there is a radio booth, however this was not in use for todays game. Some of the seats in the stand had stickers on them to indicate which season ticket holders owned them for the season. In front of the stand is a small paddock with 2 steps of terracing.
The game started extremely slowly with very few chances created. It stayed at 0-0 at the interval so we left the main stand to gety a bite to eat. Whilst at the refreshment van, which was selling chips, burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks, coffee and tea, we saw that an Evesham United player had been sent out to collect tea and coffee's for the players. A few people were a bit disgruntled by the fact the chips would take another 10 minutes to cook, however the people were working extremely hard to satisfy their customers so I congratulate them for that.
The second half showed no sign of improvement until the last few minutes when Evesham came close on a couple of occasions. However 3 minutes into stoppage time Hopper headed in a corner to the joy of the dozen travelling supporters.
I visited the ground with my brother, uncle and cousin. All of whom rarely went to non league football and really enjoyed it. The particularly liked the fact you could hear what the players, ref and managers were shouting.
The programme is certainly plaudible seeming as Evesham are tennants at the ground and receive low gates. It is 48 pages with only the 12 of ads glossy. The front cover displays the club badge and match details. There is info on the opposition and fixtuires and results. There are a few match pictures and the latest news from the club and league.
Ground: 9/10
Programme: 7/10
Southern League Premier Division
13.11.10
Ground: St. George's Lane (Worcester City FC)
Admission: Adult: £11 Children: £3 (£1 stand transfer at Worcester home games)
Programme: £1.50 (includes team sheet)
Attendance: 94
Capacity: 4,000
Seated: Approx.: 1,000
Covered: 1,300
Town: Worcester, Worcestershire
Club shop: yes (Worcester have their own while Evesham set their own up in the clubhouse)
Floodlights: yes
Step: 7
Worcester is a city in Worcestershire. It is 30 miles south west of Birmingham and 29 miles north of Gloucester. The River Severn runs through the city and is overlooked by the 12th century Worcester cathedral. This site held the last battle of the Civil war. Worcester is the home of composer Sir Edward Elgar and Worcestershire sauce. The cathedral is 927 years old with its crypts thought to be even older. The Chapter house is the only circular one in the country. The cathedral is the burial place of King John.
Worcester is a town with a big sporting community. The town is home to Worcester City FC, Worcester Warriors RFC and Worcestershire CCC. Worcester can be accessed from: Hereford, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Oxford and Bristol directly.
Evesham United were founded in 1945. They started in the Worcester League before switching to the Worcestershire Combination in 1951. They won the competition twice before moving into the Birmingham & District League. In the 1960-61 season they were coached by former Coventry City captain Charlie Timmins. Not long afterwards the club were back in the Worcestershire Combination. Which then became the current Midland Combination. The club won three titles in the division before snatching promotion to the Southern League. Coached by former Coventry City player David Busst in 2004-05, they won promotion to the Southern League Premier, but were relegated after one season. In 2008 the club made it to the FA Cup 1st round where they lost 2-0 at Torquay, but not before they knocked Rushden & Diamonds out 2-0. The 2008-09 season was the club's best finish when they ended the season in 9th place. They have made it to the FA Trophy 4th round and the FA Vase Quater finals.
St George's Lane is regarded by some hoppers as one of the best in the country with its wooden main stand running along one side and the old terrace opposite. The record attendance is 17,042 which was for an FA Cup game against Sheffield United. The club are soon to leave St. George's Lane and build a new 6,000 capacity ground in Nunnery Way.
I had had a busy day visiting 8 grounds already with the Southern League game between Evesham and Supermarine. You enter the ground in the South West corner where you pay £11 (or in my case £3). Once inside you are met by two friendly people selling programmes and raffle tickets. I bought a programme which included a team sheet. If you look immediately to your right, there is City's club shop, toilets and the entrance to the clubhouse. This runs right underneath the main stand, with 3 TV's showing the scores. There is a bar selling drinks and a few tables set out to form a club shop. Back outside the dressing rooms are right in front of you with the ground entrance to your right. Behind the goal straight ahead of you is the west goal with 4 steps of terracing and long crush barriers running along. Going round the corner there is 8 steps of terracing and a TV gantry in the centre, this is presumably for WCTV or FA Cup games. There is then the large covered terrace taking up the other half of the side. This contains a dozen steps of terracing with some friendly (really!) graffiti on the back wall. Behind the next goal is raised flat standing with the canal behind. This proved to be a bit of a problem with high shots. The other side ios taken up completely by the main stand. This is a mixture of wooden, plastic and bench seats in 4 blocks. The roof is quite low so the stand is quite poorly lit in November. At the back there is a radio booth, however this was not in use for todays game. Some of the seats in the stand had stickers on them to indicate which season ticket holders owned them for the season. In front of the stand is a small paddock with 2 steps of terracing.
The game started extremely slowly with very few chances created. It stayed at 0-0 at the interval so we left the main stand to gety a bite to eat. Whilst at the refreshment van, which was selling chips, burgers, hot dogs, soft drinks, coffee and tea, we saw that an Evesham United player had been sent out to collect tea and coffee's for the players. A few people were a bit disgruntled by the fact the chips would take another 10 minutes to cook, however the people were working extremely hard to satisfy their customers so I congratulate them for that.
The second half showed no sign of improvement until the last few minutes when Evesham came close on a couple of occasions. However 3 minutes into stoppage time Hopper headed in a corner to the joy of the dozen travelling supporters.
I visited the ground with my brother, uncle and cousin. All of whom rarely went to non league football and really enjoyed it. The particularly liked the fact you could hear what the players, ref and managers were shouting.
The programme is certainly plaudible seeming as Evesham are tennants at the ground and receive low gates. It is 48 pages with only the 12 of ads glossy. The front cover displays the club badge and match details. There is info on the opposition and fixtuires and results. There are a few match pictures and the latest news from the club and league.
Ground: 9/10
Programme: 7/10
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